Butcher Babies – Uncovered

If it seems like the BUTCHER BABIES are everywhere these days, that’s because they are. Not since HALESTORM have I seen a band work so hard and bust their asses to put on a kickass show and give the fans their money’s worth. Goliath was a great album and I’ve also gone on record saying that they were THE best band on Mayhem Fest 2013. Carla Harvey and Heidi Shepherd are forces to be reckoned with, and like it or not, they aren’t going anywhere. They also just started their first headlining tour and will be kicking asses in a city near you this fall. And to tide those of us who anxiously await their next album over, they have given us Uncovered, a fun EP of cover songs, but not the usual stuff. There’s no “Highway to Hell” or some other beaten to death classic rock songs on here, no sir.

What we DO get is five well off the beaten path numbers that may have you scratching your head at first, but believe me, this is a good thing and a nice change from the ordinary cliché covers. ZZ TOP’S “Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers” will have many a die-hard and/or redneck screaming “SACRILEGE!” but I really got into it. Carla was instrumental in getting the band to do “They’re Coming to Take Me Away” from NAPOLEON XIV, and to me it’s a vast improvement over the original, which makes me wanna stab myself within a minute. And on the subject of bands I can’t stand, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES is definitely near the top of that list. However, BUTCHER BABIES’ rendition of “I Don’t Give a Fuck” is actually one of the best tracks on Uncovered.

Another “Holy shit, really??” song has got to be “Crazy Horses” by THE OSMONDS. They turned this sweet song by a group of Mormons and turned it into a Friday night beer-and-shot-drinking anthem! Immediately following is their version of “Pussy Whipped” by S.O.D., another band I could never get into. I’m gonna go ahead and say this was the weakest of the bunch to me. But overall, this is a fun and refreshing group of songs, and the boys in the band, Henry Flury on guitar, Chrissy Warner on drums and Jason Klein on bass have managed to come up with some way out there arrangements to keep things interesting. Bottom line, I love the BUTCHER BABIES, and thisis a fun EP when you’re looking for something different. Uncovered comes out September 30 via Century Media Records.